Charlie speaks...

Video available at the link in the below post, but here were the highlights...

* Darius Ashley has been suspended, but is still on the team. Strong did say, "Now, he may never play another game for us..." but he did not want to just chuck him from the locker room, saying, "we're in this program to help young men".

* A pretty nice summation on how he feels about his players and their respective years of service: "Freshman want to play, sophomores want to start, juniors want to win, and seniors are wondering what's down the road for them..."

* "Stein has taught Teddy how to work...he just goes to work, goes to class. Stein is going to be good for Teddy."

* Corvin Lamb will join the team later this summer.

* And finally...goosebumps. You can't help but get the shivers when you hear Strong, with typical understated intensity, talk about how he feels he has the best support staff in the country, when he talks about how hard the team is busting it in the weight room. Getting stronger, getting faster, buying in. How the sasquatch of a man, strength coach Pat Moorer, rules the workout room with utter respect from the players.

Everyone's on the same page. Something special is happening, the only variable is, well, you know...

Link to Charlie Strong presser...

HERE. Full recap afterwards

Patrick Patterson eats boogers

I don't care how old this clip is, I'm just so proud that my 13-year old nephew, Gage E, is advanced enough at his age to have this posted on his Facebook wall. Nope, I'm not crying, it just gets a little dusty in here...

I got nothin...

...on the Cardinal front today. But this is just adorable. Meet Naki'o, the world's first dog with bionic paws. The pup lost his original wheels due to frostbite and his previous owner's neglect when he was just 5-weeks old. And his new legs are just a little too long for his body. Runs kinda like Josh Chichester now. I'm gonna call him Chi-chi.

Bring "it" on

In a poll taken today amongst UK fans on the question of whether or not Coach John Calipari "gets it" or not, 87% agreed that said coach is, in fact, in possession of "it". 9.8% weren't able to read the questionnaire, but once it was explained to them, also concurred that "it" has been satisfactorily gotten by their coach. The remaining 2.3% expressed belief that even though Cal more than likely has "it" somewhere in his house, he cannot be forgiven for sending a UK jersey to, quote, "that muslin in the White House, Barack HUSSEIN Obummer". The remaining .3% thought a scary clown was being referenced, muttered, and walked away.

Using his new-found, near universal popularity, an incredulous Coach Cal decided to take it out for a test drive today, quote, "Just to see how much batshit crazy stuff I can get away with". The prank, promoted on Matt Jones' radio show this morning espoused the idea that Division 1 college athletics (120 FBS schools alone) should be split into 4 "superconferences";  NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST divisions.

(the last paragraph wasn't a joke, this is his plan)

Upon hearing the half-baked concept, despite flying in the face of common sense and real-world practicality, hundreds of UK fans were witnessed nodding, apparently without a trace of irony, confident that only someone in possession of the "it" could conceive of such genius.

Siva speaks

A compelling two-part interview with Peyton Siva is up over at louisvillesportsbuzz, available here. There's lots of great stuff in it, particularly on how he worked out with Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks during the NBA playoffs, and has put major work into improving his jumper.

Siva's an impressive young man, through and through. There's also tons of positive signs embedded in the article; the fact that all the returning players have been on campus working out together since early June, Chane Behanan impressing his teammates early on, Gorgui bulking up, Chane slimming down, and Coach P eagerly anticipating 10 days of intense basketball during the Bahamas trip.

All good stuff. I can't wait to watch a dialed in, focused team with an emerging leader in Peyton Siva marshaling a team of high character individuals that truly enjoy playing with one another.

Fall can't get here soon enough.

Buh bye, for now

David Padgett is leaving Louisville, hired as an assistant coach at IUIPUI. The brilliant floor general with the baritone voice is taking the next step up the coaching ladder. Best wishes.

I'm also hoping there exist some in the UofL Athletics Department that will follow his progress closely.

I have a gut feeling we haven't seen the last of David Padgett's Louisville career just yet.

EC's logical leap

I can appreciate a wide variety of takes and opinions on the Darius Ashley situation, but these lines in Eric Crawford's blog on the subject stuck out like a sore thumb...

This is a program that has had some tragic alcohol-related incidents in recent years. 

Trent Guy is at a club in the wee hours and winds up getting shot.

Daniel Covington (after his playing days) gets into an altercation in an intersection and is shot and killed. The shooter, also a U of L athlete, somehow went unprosecuted.

So, a shooting in 2008 in which there was no evidence of alcohol usage, and the killing of Daniel Covington, a former UofL football player killed by a then soccer player, also where there was no evidence of alcohol usage are his examples of the "alcohol-related incidents" that are plaguing the program?

Crawford does, in the following lines, mention that these are more "putting yourself in a bad situation" offenses, not alcohol-abuse offenses, but it's a muddled composition overall where he conflates the two.

These were three, separate, distinct, serious (and in one case tragic) events. But they are all clearly unrelated, and don't even have the common thread of alcohol usage running through them.

Part of this is just how the minds of sportswriters work, I get that. Nothing can happen that isn't more symbolic, deeper, revealing of "disturbing trends" and prompting the need for "messages to be sent".

But Coach Strong deserves the freedom to evaluate this Darius Ashley situation for what it is, and only for what it is. He should be free to make his call without local media inventing, or at least conflating, unrelated events that happened long before Charlie Strong came to Louisville.

Can't spell Darius without...

D-U-I. As in, his second in seven months. And not your average runathemill dueys either; if you recall the first time he fell asleep at the wheel with the car still running. This time, he rear-ended a cop car.

The matter will go before a judge, but more importantly for Ashley's future, will go before Coach Charlie Strong as well. This is perhaps the biggest disciplinary issue that Strong's been confronted with during his Louisville tenure, and it goes without saying that many are watching closely.

Mr. Red's take? Make him sit out the season. Get help, get him into a program, but keep him on the football team. Give him a chance, well a second chance, to turn his life around; there's too much potential there, on and off the field, to simply throw him to the wolves.

Mike W's Tales from the Bag

(Loyal reader and golf fanatic Mike W recently had an awesome opportunity to caddy at the Senior PGA Championship. The following are his thoughts and observations as the week went by)


Sunday, May 22:


The Senior PGA Championship is this week at Valhalla here in Louisville. I landed a last minute bag for the tournament today. My "man" is Mitch Camp - a club pro from Ohio. Met him today at the course about 3 pm. Hit some balls....waited out a rain delay for 90 minutes, then played 5 holes. Full practice round tomorrow at 9.


Monday, May 23:


Played a full practice round today. Finally getting used to standing on the other side....Mitch is a southpaw. Course was set up LONG...almost every tee from the back rack. And after yet another overnite downpour, played even longer than its yardage. Mitch runs it out there pretty long, and fairly straight, but we still had to hit our fair share of hybrids and 3woods into several par 4s. Thank goodness he has a really solid short game. Good bunker player and wields the flat stick well. We're gonna need it.


He's a great guy...from the Cleveland area...Titleist from head to toe. Some of the bigger names showed up today....saw Calc, Loren Roberts, Fred Funk, "happy" Hale Irwin, Sluman, and Jay Haas. Another thunderstorm just hammered down here....gonna be WET again tomorrow.


Tuesday May 24:


....long day at the v today. Had to be on the driving range at 7:30 for the Pro-Am - 28 pros each paired with 4 amateurs playing a Shamble. My man Mitch not in the pro am, so i was hooked up with an amateur playing in the John Jacobs group. 5.5 hours later, we finally got to the house. After a quick hot dog and chips and i met Mitch for our practice round. We played 10 thru 18, then played 1-4, jumped to 8, walked in from there. After 12 hours...pretty beat. Feet in trouble....soaking wet for 32 holes. Stopped at Dillards on the way home and forked over big $$ for a pair of Ecco waterproof Goretex wheels. Feet don't fail me now......

Mitch hitting it a little better today....more GIR than yesterday. I gave him a rare bad read on 10 right out of the chute...he then stuck the needle in me with his comment "that's on your card, not mine". He's a very confident chipper/putter...not mechanical at all - a real "feel" player on and around the greens. Bunker play still impressive.

We dodged weather today - NO delays. Next couple of days could be dicey. Meeting Mitch on the putting green at 9 am...looking forward to the extra 90 minutes of shut eye.
 
Wednesday, May 25:


Minor miracle today - no rain fell on Louisville. According to the weather gurus, we're about 2 hours away from massive severe weather rolling through here....possible hail, tornados, thunderstorms - who knows, maybe volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and the bubonic plague as well.

New tires for my banged up wheels were a big help today...feet stayed bone dry. On the down side, they're mighty sore and blistered from all the squishing thru the wet and muck for 3 days (should've got the Goretex BEFORE the week started...duh). A little worried about how they'll feel tomorrow.

As for the golf, Mitch had an off day today. A few crooked tee shots, a couple wayward approaches, and a balky putter....not quite what we wanted heading into the day we start keeping score (we did make a couple birdies though). But, after some lunch, a 30 minute session on the rock pile was quite productive. Then, another 20 minutes on the putting green proved beneficial as well.

On a personal level, I feel bad for Mitch this week. He was going to have his 25 year old son caddie for him this week. Something happened Saturday nite that warranted a trip to the emergency room for the son. Hence, the last minute call I got from Valhalla requesting my availabilty to loop. Mitch has not shared a lot about what happened....other than to tell me he is definitely fighting his emotions concerning his son. Even said that if he got teary eyed on occassion...that's the reason. In some ways, keeping him calm and focused will be just as important as "165 front, 174 flag, wind against - slighty accross, i like the 7iron".

Closing comments:

• Hal Sutton - his head is as big as a pumpkin....and his gut is matching Fuzzy's in girth
• Scott Hoch - obviously has not missed any meals in a LONG time
• Calcavechia - see Scott Hoch above
• Larry Nelson - nice guy
• Ken Green - amazing that he's playing with an artificial leg (did not see him hit balls, but saw him on the putting green)
• Andy North's caddie - 75 years old (no joke)

Hoping that Mitch gets a good rest tonite. He's fighting some nerves in addition to his emotions about his son.

Let the games begin....


Thursday, May 26:


Despite the prediction of Armageddon last nite, Louisville survived the end of the world. It did storm overnite, pushing back tee times 90 minutes. Another storm blew thru around lunch time, which created yet another delay. Our original tee time of 2:10 went to 3:40, then 6:45. Lots of waiting around and doing basically nothing. The Caddie Hospitality area was quite popular today.

After drying out a little yesterday, the course was back to a slop fest today....PGA invoked the "lift, clean, and cheat, errrr place" rule. The new set of tires for my wheels are paying dividends....feet stayed bone dry, but still smarting from the dry rot and blistering from earlier in the week.

We started with a shaky bogey on 1....pushed drive left rough (remember, Mitch is a lefty), shoved 9 iron left bunker, blast from trap long, had to get up and down for 5. Parred the next four, then a miraculous bogey 5 on #6. Made par on 7 in near darkness....play suspended for the day. +2 thru 7. Low round so far is 66.

Ball in air at 7:30 am off 8 tee.....staring at 29 holes - i'm going to bed.


Friday, May 27:


....nothing quite as much fun as hitting balls on the range at 6:15 am when it's as bright as the inside of a movie theater, it's breezy, and it's spitting rain that feels like sleet (temps dipped into the 50s overnite). Despite these wonderful conditions, Mitch was striping it. Unfortunately, he could not carry it to the course....fought his swing most of the way in our completion of the suspended round from yesterday. Finished round 1 with a 78.

Target score for round 2 was 70...he figured 4 over could make the cut. Started on 10...missed a 7 footer for birdie, then went bogey, par. Fairway bunker off tee on 13, hit what looked to be a perfect shot that hit the front fringe and spun back into the H2O - double. Made par on 14, then bogey, bogey, bogey, par, for 42. By now, we're playing for pride as the cut is a mirage in the desert. Even par on the back thru 5, Mitch finished his trip to Valhalla with some serious fireworks. From 226 front, 248 flag from the fairway on 6, he lasers a 17 degree hybrid that seeks fiber the whole way...draws chants of "GO IN, GO IN" from the gallery, finishes 8 feet past - birdie. Smoked driver off 7, hits another hybrid on a string to 20 feet, eagle putt stops a foot short, tap in birdie. 8 iron to 15 feet on 8...center cut - another tweeter. Howitzer drive on 9...6 iron a little long, missed 6 footer for par - 34 on his final 9.

We finished 78-76 for plus 10. As Mitch predicted, it looks like we would have needed 70 to make the cut. Plus 4 is in right now....several groups will need to come back Saturday morning to complete round 2.

Our dream of playing the weekend has fallen short, but we both agreed it was a great week.

Gonna rest my feet for several days.....